Recently the United States suffered a mortgage crisis which almost caused the economy to go into its worse depression since the Great Depression. This recession was caused mainly by the brokers on wall street as well as the countries banks. The banks were giving loans to customers who were not able to afford the interest rates or pay back the money. This was completely irresponsible on the banks behalf. However what the banks did should be considered a crime. But apparently we award people for committing crimes by giving them 300 billion dollars.
The actions of the bank ruined countless family’s credit and foreclosed thousands of homes. President Obama gave these businesses millions of dollars in order for their companies to stay in business and to give people loans in hopes that they will invest the money back into the economy in order to spread the wealth. In theory you would think that this would work but in reality it did not. This may have been because the banks and corporations that received money from the bailout gave their top CEOs raises and bonuses. Why should these people be awarded bonuses for running a company that needed to have a stimulus package prevent it from going bankrupt. This to me does not make sense; these companies should be firing their CEOs for negatively affecting the whole world’s economy. The companies that are suspected of using the bailout money which is the peoples tax dollars. If you really think about the whole situation it is kind of sickening. Basically American citizens who lost everything to the banks while trying to repay loans to the banks had to use their tax dollars to pay the bonuses of the people who already took their home or their car from them. This should have been deemed a corporate crime by the court system. Instead of giving the banks money the government should have given the bailout money to American families who were struggling financially.
During this recession no family was safe from losing their homes, cars, retirement funds, kids college funds or other money that families have in their savings or checking accounts. Many people know someone who lost their job do to layoffs or lost their house to foreclosure. Many families have had to change their life styles to compensate for their debt. Fathers have had to get second jobs to make ends meet as well as stay at home moms getting jobs making minimum wage. Families have had to sell their homes and purchase smaller ones or sell their cars to pay off their debt. Now with the price of gas increasing families are going to struggle even more to pay their bills and live what would be considered the “American Dream.”I hope that this problem gets solved and my children are able to live without all of the struggling that families today are enduring.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteI like your fire. It's always a good addition to class and the stuff you produce. Just make sure and check your facts and question the dominant voice. I am not saying you are wrong here: I too criticize Obama for SUPPORTING the bailouts, but he the man didn't give it to the banks. Even saying Congress did would be an over simplification. Think about the systemic issues that created an environment that gave money to these banks. A lot of economist saying we would've tanked if that hadn't happened. Are they wrong? Or should we have tanked and loet our country go through a tumultuous and costly "reset."
Be careful with the CEO bonus stuff too. Not only is it a cliche, but its sensationalist (something we criticized in FYS). In a sense, that whole narrative SELLS well to consumers of media. The reason why hard research projects like The Giant Pool of Money do not sell; they can't be summed up in a line like "the CEOs are getting bonuses on everyone's dime." Be weary of this. Combine that critical eye with your anger, and you should be able to produce something very valuable.
"the countries" = the country's. Might seem nitpicky, but these are the little concerns that readers may immediately question your ethos as a result. Try and work out little errors like these while developing quality content. "...banks behalf..." = banks' (plural possessive).
-F